1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the management of print files associated with a job ticket and, in particular, to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for managing print files by managing a backup storage device to store accumulated print files.
2. Description of the Related Art
Network printing systems generally comprise an assemblage of different printers, client computers, servers, and other components connected over a network. A print job is assembled at a client computer and transmitted over the network to a server linked to a variety of printers. The printers may have different printing capabilities. Thus, for a given submitted print job, some printers in the network may not be able to process the print job. To route print jobs through a network printing system, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides Printing Systems Manager (PSM) products that provide centralized and distributed management of a network printing system. The IBM PSM systems manage the flow of print jobs and insure that a print job is routed to a printer that can handle the job.
A print job is comprised of one or more electronically-stored files and the print attributes therefor. The print attributes inform the printer how to process the files. To assemble print jobs, prior art systems include software installed on the client computer that displays a graphical user interface (GUI). Using a mouse, keyboard, etc., the user selects from a menu of options displayed in the GUI the components and print attributes for a print job. The client computer, under control of the installed software, would then create an electronically-stored job ticket based on the information entered by the user.
Job tickets typically only define the print attributes for a single file. However, a document may be comprised of multiple files, each having one or more print attributes. In the prior art, an user putting together a document comprised of multiple files would have to manually keep track of the location of the different files and manually assemble the files for printing. In some instances, a library of print files is maintained.
However, library storage is often inadequate to manage print files because the print files are usually rather large and rapidly consume the available space in the library. In the prior art, to free up space in the library, the user typically manually transfers files from the library to a backup unit. Still further, the user often compresses files removed from the library to the backup unit. Such prior art systems prove cumbersome when the user needs to access a print file in the backup unit because the user must first manually go to the backup location to access the desired print file, decompress the print file, and then relocate the print file to the library. Accumulation of additional print files over time only increases the complexity of the user""s library management responsibilities. Thus, there is a need in the art for network printing systems that eliminate these problems and facilitate the printing of complex documents comprised of multiple files stored throughout the network printing system.
To address the requirements described above, the present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for managing print files associated with a job ticket describing a plurality of print files included in a print job. The print files include data representing graphical images. A first storage device stores print files. When space usage in the first storage device has exceeded a predetermined limit, print files from the first storage device are migrated to a second storage device. A stub file is generated that includes information on a migrated file. The stub file is stored where the migrated print file was located in the first storage device. A print file is selected to include in the print job described in the job ticket. Upon selection of a print file represented by a stub file stored in the first storage device, the stub file is accessed. When the stub file is accessed, the stub file is replaced with the selected print file from the second storage device. The selected print file is transmitted from the first storage device to a printer when the print job including the selected print file is submitted to a printer.
In further embodiments, an index describing a job ticket and associated print files is created. The index is then communicated to a database for storage therein. The job ticket and the associated print files described in the index are transferred to a location in the first storage device.
In still further embodiments, the print file is selected by first searching the database and selecting a print file or job ticket described in an index located during the search of the database.
In yet further embodiments, a server provides communication between the first and second storage devices, migrates print files, generates the stub file, accesses the stub file, and replaces the stub file. Further, a computer networked to the server is used to select the print files to add to the job ticket.
It is an object of the present invention to provide ostensibly unlimited storage in a library which stores job tickets and print files.
It is still a further object that print files stored in the library be migrated to a backup storage device when the library reaches a storage usage threshold.
It is yet a further object that any programs used to create a job ticket can access a stub file in the library which represents the print file stored in the backup storage device. The stub file provides location, name, and size information on the file the job ticket is accessing.
It is still another object that when the stub file is accessed, the print file represented by the stub file is recalled from the backup storage device to replace the stub file in the library. The recalled print file is now accessible when processing the job ticket.
It is yet a further object that a database program in the server manage index files describing the job ticket and print files stored in the library and that the client computer include a database program to search the indices in the server database to locate a print file or job ticket.
It is also an objective to include in the computer a GUI to create job tickets and allow the GUI to interface with the server database and library to perform searches therein.